Banking woes

[maneo]

Have seen banks like DBS and SCB get more anal retentive lately.
Clogged up a line for half an hour before I got the manager to just take the damn cheque and let the clearing bank deal with it. Yeah, I know about the fees they'll charge if it doesn't clear.

Haven't had a problem with OCBC yet, but only opened accounts there last month.

Wonder if anything has happened recently to cause such ridiculous policies to be enforced in such inane ways.

[zzm9980]

Have seen banks like DBS and SCB get more anal retentive lately.
Clogged up a line for half an hour before I got the manager to just take the damn cheque and let the clearing bank deal with it. Yeah, I know about the fees they'll charge if it doesn't clear.

Haven't had a problem with OCBC yet, but only opened accounts there last month.

Wonder if anything has happened recently to cause such ridiculous policies to be enforced in such inane ways.

This is just the norm for Singapore banking. My personal pet peeve is my signature never matching close enough for them. I pretty much have to bring a passport and "reset" my signature every time I visit.

[Brah]

Do people have problems with the order of their names? I mean how here it's lastname, firstname, other name, suffixes, etc. but I at least never sign my name that, I do it the Western way.

[nakatago]

I find it astounding that Singapore, claiming to be as multicultural as it is, can't figure out which are people's first/given/last/sur/family names even though there are forms which explicitly mark which ones are which and the person has filled them properly. It's like they're not even bothering learning how cultural norms outside their borders but they undoubtedly and inevitably interact with are.

[Girl_Next_Door]

I believe its really dependent on the person dealing with the cheque and the amount of experience that individuals has. This is not specific to a bank. Unfortunately, a lot of the branch staff are junior without sufficient experiences to deal with non local cheques, accompanied by the low risk appetite of the mildly more senior banking staff, many of cheques are not verified further on their authencity (because they are afraid to ask questions on whether it is allowed or not), and get returned to client almost immediately.

Yup, no solution on that. Only possibility is, if you know a branch with experienced staff who knows how to handle such situation, stick to that branch.

[singapore eagle]

Would it be completely off-the-mark to suggest that the cosy, uncompetitive nature of the market is a factor here?

Judging by the replies to this thread, the banks must have made a fair bit of money in charges from us over the years. Maybe the stringent requirements around names, signatures, etc. are just a nice little earner...

[maneo]

I am extremely hacked off with OCBC today. They have just returned a cheque I tried to deposit advising they cannot process it as the name on the cheque does not match the name in my passport.

It is quite normal in the UK to have a cheque made out to to Mr S ***** rather than full name including middle name.

The cheque is from the UK Inland Revenue with supporting letter showing it is a tax refund.

Plus I had the same situation last year, admittedly for a lower amount, which OCBC did process. Difference was last year around 6k GPB this year 9k GBP.

I am of a mind to tell them to shove their bank account where the sun doesn't shine and move my assets to another bank.

Anyone have experience which might suggest another Singapore bank would accept the cheque and process it?

Have been banking here since the mid 90s and haven't had this occur yet, but thanks for the warning.

My passport has my full name with the middle name spelled out, but I have been depositing cheques over the years into both DBS and Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) made out to various combinations (first-initial-surname, first-surname as well as first-middle-surname). Wife's passport shows surname 1st, given name last (her given name being a western name*), but most cheques have been payable to her as given name 1st, surname last.
Also have had cheques payable to both our names with various combinations.

Just opened new accounts with OCBC recently, so will see how that goes.
Service so far has been far better than either DBS or SCB, but things can change.

SCB used to be a pleasure to deal with.
When we opened accounts with them several years ago they were a refreshing change from the Dismal Banking Service of DBS that the letters in their name seem to suggest.
However, now SCB is noticeably worse than DBS, so much so that we've moved money out.

It is sneaky that your bank accepted the cheque at the counter, but then rejected it later.
As long as the pay-to name is a subset of the ID you carry, there is no excuse to reject the cheque.
Perhaps you can take the letter to the branch and get them to take the cheque back (and reverse any fees that were charged).
This may require some fortitude to politely but relentlessly engage the branch manager until he/she relents.
Best to try anticipate the variety of lame excuses they will try to use and have quick counter-arguments.

* - For those with full Chinese names, where name sequence matters, getting a foreign cheque where one's name has been westernised by putting the surname last will create a problem.

I believe its really dependent on the person dealing with the cheque and the amount of experience that individuals has. This is not specific to a bank. Unfortunately, a lot of the branch staff are junior without sufficient experiences to deal with non local cheques, accompanied by the low risk appetite of the mildly more senior banking staff, many of cheques are not verified further on their authencity (because they are afraid to ask questions on whether it is allowed or not), and get returned to client almost immediately.

Yup, no solution on that. Only possibility is, if you know a branch with experienced staff who knows how to handle such situation, stick to that branch.

Usually try to go to the same branch hoping that the staff recognise me.
However, have seen much turnover lately, especially at SCB.

Have heard that recent internal policies and "management" is chasing away good, experienced staff.
This may account for some of the recent changes I've observed, such as forcing customers to fill out deposit slips themselves, where previously the teller would fill out the whole deposit slip.

This became a problem when trying to deposit a cheque for my kid, who is away for school.
Of course the bank wouldn't tell us the kid's account number to put on the deposit slip, due to privacy regulations. I wasn't going to leave the counter until they took it.
What annoyed me the most was that this made me late for something else.

[Girl_Next_Door]

Would it be completely off-the-mark to suggest that the cosy, uncompetitive nature of the market is a factor here?

Judging by the replies to this thread, the banks must have made a fair bit of money in charges from us over the years. Maybe the stringent requirements around names, signatures, etc. are just a nice little earner...

I would say its the combination of the following factors:
- Increased banking fraud which leads to very conservative, risk adverse approach towards discrepancies on names.
- Fear of regulator (aka MAS) that lead to very conservative approach towards anything that is not 100% identical. The amount of questioning that regulators and auditors (internal and external) pose, on how the bank/individual justify every single discrepancy (major or minor) is mentally exhausting.
- Aggressive expansion in banking network in Singapore, which lead to many inexperienced individuals taking on positions which requires some decision and common sense.

Do bear in mind, unfortunately, common sense is not that common, because if it is, I would be out of job.

[nakatago]

common sense is not that common, because if it is, I would be out of job.

This should be like a catch phrase or something.

[maneo]

Do people have problems with the order of their names? I mean how here it's lastname, firstname, other name, suffixes, etc. but I at least never sign my name that, I do it the Western way.

For those with proper Chinese names (i.e. no western or Christian names), name sequence matters.
Getting a foreign cheque where one's name has been westernised by putting the surname last will create a problem.

For signatures, I had one bank insist I sign my name with my full middle name.
Now have to remember to use this non-standard signature whenever dealing with this bank.

This is just the norm for Singapore banking. My personal pet peeve is my signature never matching close enough for them. I pretty much have to bring a passport and "reset" my signature every time I visit.

My signature also varies depending on day, my mood, what kind of pen I'm using, etc.
Did get questioned once (I think it was DBS), but at least they had the decency to call me before rejecting it outright and to accept my verbal confirmation that I did indeed write the cheque and wanted it to be paid to the payee. However, that was several years ago . . . .

[nakatago]

Do people have problems with the order of their names? I mean how here it's lastname, firstname, other name, suffixes, etc. but I at least never sign my name that, I do it the Western way.

For those with proper Chinese names (i.e. no western or Christian names), name sequence matters.
Getting a foreign cheque where one's name has been westernised by putting the surname last will create a problem.

I think the point is, Singapore gets enough Westerners or people with western world format names that they should realize by now it shouldn't cause anyone grief.

[Brah]

Do people have problems with the order of their names? I mean how here it's lastname, firstname, other name, suffixes, etc. but I at least never sign my name that, I do it the Western way.

For those with proper Chinese names (i.e. no western or Christian names), name sequence matters.
Getting a foreign cheque where one's name has been westernised by putting the surname last will create a problem.

I think the point is, Singapore gets enough Westerners or people with western world format names that they should realize by now it shouldn't cause anyone grief.

+1

But, ya think? Even with this I have been called "AlexandRA" a number of times in face-to-face and phone interactions though I am clearly not that gender.

[nakatago]

Yup; they also get very common western names wrong, even those found in their iphones' autocorrect

[movingtospore]

Have seen banks like DBS and SCB get more anal retentive lately.
Clogged up a line for half an hour before I got the manager to just take the damn cheque and let the clearing bank deal with it. Yeah, I know about the fees they'll charge if it doesn't clear.

Haven't had a problem with OCBC yet, but only opened accounts there last month.

Wonder if anything has happened recently to cause such ridiculous policies to be enforced in such inane ways.

This is just the norm for Singapore banking. My personal pet peeve is my signature never matching close enough for them. I pretty much have to bring a passport and "reset" my signature every time I visit.

I have done this...gone in with the passport to correct a form that was rejected (not cheque in this case). Stood there at the counter, everyone looked at me, the passport, and said all was well. Form went back to the black hole at their HQ and the dimwits there rejected it for the signature not matching...again.

[Steve1960]

Mum received the cheque in the post last Tuesday, paid it in same day to my UK bank account. It cleared last Friday and yesterday I did the International transaction to send the funds to OCBC.

Easy, straightforward, no drama, Singapore banking can you hear me????